MELAKA, April 25 – More than 80,000 of 180,000 Orang Asli in the country are eligible to vote in the 13th general election on May 5. Rural and Regional Development deputy minister Datuk Hasan Malek(pic) said the Orang Asli community were now more educated and open-minded, and understood better that voting was crucial in determining their future.
“They (Orang Asli) now possess knowledge, they understand the importance to vote, hence the encouraging number who had registered as voters,” he told reporters after meeting 111 leaders of the Orang Asli community, here today. On the community’s support for the Barisan Nasional(BN), Hasan said this was obvious from the large turnout at activities organised by the ministry for Orang Asli.
“The community possess a straightforward mentality. They do not want to hear what people are saying but what had been done. They are aware of what the BN have done for them and will continue to support it,” he said optimistically.
Orang Asli Development director-general Datuk Mohd Sani Mistam said his department would maintain its drive to get more Orang Asli to register as voters. Meanwhile, Mohd Sani said RM3.3 million was allocated by the federal government this year to the Orang Asli department in Negeri Sembilan and Melaka for various projects.
BERNAMA
